ALL NOVEL Chapter 43 - Chapter 43: Enchantment
Chapter 43: Enchantment
“Indeed… that’s right. You’ve got a good grasp of it.”
It’s been two weeks since I started visiting Ordrishka’s workshop. The first week was all about cleaning. As things became more organized, my mentor gradually started engaging with me, and finally, I began to learn enchantment.
Utilizing the Od within my body—putting it simply, consuming MP—I can convert dungeon drop items into Ether. Once I understood the trick, it wasn’t as difficult as I had imagined. I never thought about or knew I could convert items from the dungeon into Ether. It turns out that if I had thought about it, I could have done it. It’s my honest impression. With a careful tracing motion as if releasing magical power from my fingertips, the Ether transforms into a substance similar to dry ice, neither liquid nor gas. While it does require a fair amount of MP and concentration, it’s not that significant compared to making magical tools. Plus, I have Appraisal. I can visually understand where more MP might be needed or where it should dissolve smoothly.
Ordrishka seems to believe that alchemy requires innate talent, but essentially, with MP (MP is 10 times INT, so INT), DEX agility, and the Appraisal skill, anyone could do it. It might be challenging to level them all up, but once you know the acquisition conditions, it’s straightforward.
Anyway, Ether decomposition has become a reality. Enchantment is even easier. You just soak the decomposed Ether into the target object you’ve prepared. Since Ether permeates anything, while using Appraisal, you tilt and sprinkle the bottle to soak it evenly.
Well, enchantment is easy and quite fascinating.
The target for enchantment can be anything. However, there are capacity and compatibility factors. Items inherently rich in magical elements readily absorb Ether. On the other hand, items with scarce magical elements don’t absorb much. Even if you enchant a branch of a tree, it’ll, at best, gain a slightly enhanced effect. However, materials like magic stones, holy silver, monster fangs—those rich in magical elements that easily conduct magic—absorb a vast amount of Ether. Depending on the enchantment, they can be elevated into astonishing artifacts, like a magic sword engulfed in flames, burning everything with a swing, or a magic wand capable of parting the seas by just raising it. Generally, items like holy swords or divine spears are said to be products where someone once dumped a massive amount of Ether into an excellent base. From the perspective of an alchemist, it’s neither romantic nor admirable.
Then there’s compatibility. Naturally, water-attribute Ether blends well with water-attribute materials. However, pouring fire-attribute Ether, an inferior attribute, doesn’t blend well and has a halved effect. Roughly speaking, water-attribute Ether integrates with water-attribute materials at 200% compared to wind or earth, while fire attribute only integrates at 50%. At this point, there’s a fourfold difference in performance. When it comes to demonstrating the effect, using water-attribute Ether on water-water achieves 200% efficiency, while water-fire neutralizes each other to 1/2 or even less. Therefore, under normal circumstances, enchanting materials with an inferior attribute Ether is rare. Sometimes there are items like a “sword that can use both fire and ice,” but those are said to be a result of enchanting fire attribute materials with fire attribute enchantments and water attribute (evolving into ice attribute) materials with water attribute enchantments, combined later. Even then, as they interfere with each other, the firepower significantly diminishes. Ordrishka mentioned, “She must have wanted to try making it.” It seems to be a product of romance.
By the way, regarding the effects of each attribute’s Ether, roughly speaking, Fire attribute enhances flame, attack power, and POW (strength). Water attribute relates to water (ice), magic power, and an increase in INT (intelligence). Wind attribute is associated with wind, agility, and an increase in AGI (agility). Earth attribute is linked to metal, defense power, and an increase in DEX (dexterity).
For instance, if you infuse Fire attribute Ether into an iron sword, it’s uncertain whether it will envelop in flames, increase attack power, or elevate the wielder’s POW. You won’t know until you try enchanting.
That was the common belief.
However, Ordrishka continues her research based on the theory that the effects manifested could be somewhat controlled by the material that serves as the source for Ether. This is because alchemists have different specialties in enchantments. Furthermore, there seems to be a certain bias in enchantment effects based on the region. This is speculated to be due to the characteristics of materials produced in the vicinity.
Nevertheless, the materials brought from dungeons are limited. Adventurers typically hunt for materials that can be sold at a high price for their livelihood. Such materials are valuable not only for alchemy but also for weapons, armor, and daily necessities, attracting buyers from various fields and fetching a high price as materials. Unpopular items are cheaper, but no one hunts for them, and they are rarely available.
In simpler terms, her research had hit a dead end.
Well, if that’s the case…
“Do you need a large quantity of a specific type of material?”
“Yes, I do.”
In my inventory, there’s an abundance of dragonfly wings and materials from other monster houses I’ve frequented. Pretending to return to the viscount’s mansion, I refilled a large sack and brought it in.
“Oh, you…!”
Ordrishka is trembling. Ah, it seems like the time has finally come for the stored goods to see the light of day.